4 teens charged as adults in football assault case

Four teenagers have been charged as adults with first-degree rape and other counts in an alleged locker room attack on football teammates at Damascus High School, Montgomery County police said Wednesday. A fifth teen remains charged as a juvenile with second-degree rape. The charges stem from what police have said was an incident Oct. 31 involving junior varsity football players at the school. The attacks described in court records allegedly took place after school was dismissed at Damascus High. Four juvenile male victims have been identified, police have said. The school principal notified police Nov. 1 of “an assault involving a broom,” according to court records. The records also state that one suspect told investigators that members of the JV team discussed the incidents in the locker room in a group chat on the Snapchat messaging application. The alleged assaults were part of a hazing ritual at the school, according to the accounts of suspects and victims detailed in a police report. The suspects, members of the JV squad, attacked teammates in a locker room after turning off the lights, the account in the police report and court records stated.